Coming Out
by Trapped in a MatchBox
Summary: This was so not how she had imagined their friends would find out about her and Castle.


**Coming Out**

"You look beautiful."

Kate turned around, startled, to find a very sleepy Castle looking at her from his bed. She offered him a small smile and turned back to her reflection in the mirror. Tucking a loose strand of hair back into place, she deemed herself presentable for going to Court later today. She didn't usually wear skirts to work, but Court days were her only exception.

She was supposed to report in at 1pm and would spend the morning at the 12th to catch up on some paperwork before heading down there. With one last look at the mirror, she made her way back to bed and leaned down to brush her lips against his.

"Morning." She whispered, pulling away, but he threaded his fingers in her hair and pulled her back down for another kiss. She sighed into it, happily, and allowed herself to enjoy it for a little while longer. After all, they would barely see each other today.

It had been six weeks since that fateful battle with Maddox on the roof top. Six weeks that she had finally let him crash through her wall, leaving nothing but rubble behind. Six weeks that she felt blissfully happy to be with him. She had returned to the precinct two weeks ago and they had managed to keep their new relationship status from their friends so far.

It was entirely more difficult than Kate had anticipated, but it seemed that now that she had had a taste of him, she couldn't get enough. It was torture to keep her hands to herself all day long while they were on duty. She knew it was just as hard for him, as he had told her when they got home on her first day back, desperate to touch her again.

"I'm going to miss you today." He breathed, nuzzling her neck, causing goose bumps to spread all over her skin.

"I'll come pick you up after I'm done at the Court House and maybe we could go get some dinner?" She suggested, pulling away again with a hand on his chest to stop him from coming back for more. There was no time to do what he was trying to start right now.

"It's a date." He smiled and stole another kiss, before letting her get up.

"I'm going to go put some coffee on. You coming in with me?" She asked, making her way to the door.

"Yeah, if you give me a half hour?" He sat up in bed and yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head with a groan. Kate laughed quietly and shook her head, making her way back to bed to give him one last kiss. "What was that for?" He asked, arms circling her waist and pulling her closer to stand between his legs.

She ran her fingers through his messy hair, leaned down to peck his lips once more.

"You're cute." She kissed his nose and stepped away from his embrace. "And you better hurry up if you want a ride to the precinct."

"So bossy." He shook his head and stood up, stretching again. "I love it." He sent a wicked grin her way and she rolled her eyes.

"Shower, Castle. Now." She pushed him in the bathroom's direction and laughed quietly to herself as he stumbled his way there.

Six weeks and they were already entirely too domestic. She was doomed.

And completely ecstatic about it.

* * *

Kate looked at her watch for the umpteenth time in the past hour. For some reason, they had pushed her testimony to be one of the last ones of the day and she felt like she would go crazy if she had to wait any longer. She had been sitting in this uncomfortable chair for three hours and just couldn't take it anymore. Halfway through hour three, all hell broke loose in the courtroom when the defendant got agitated and tried to attack the witness that was currently testifying. The judge had to adjourn the session and decided that they would continue the next day since it was getting late and the defendant was not cooperating.

Kate let out a sigh, part in relief because she would get to leave earlier than she thought, and part in frustration, because she would inevitably have to be back here tomorrow. Running a hand through her hair, she fished her phone out of her purse and was surprised to see six missed calls. Three from Esposito, two from Ryan and one from Lanie. Frowning in confusion, she called Lanie first, wondering what could possibly be so urgent for all of them to call her repeatedly when they knew she was in court and wouldn't be able to answer her phone.

"Kate?" Her friend answered and she knew immediately that something was up by her tone of voice.

"Hey, Lanie. You called?"

"Oh, sweetie, we've been trying to get a hold of you for _hours._" Lanie said and Kate felt her heart skip a beat. Something was definitely wrong. She could feel it.

"Why, what happened?" She asked, already dreading the answer.

"Where are you?" The medical examiner deflected and Kate sighed in frustration.

"I'm leaving the courthouse right now. Lanie, what happened?" She repeated and heard her friend sigh on the other side of the line.

"It's Castle." She said quietly and Kate felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

"What happened to him? Is he okay?" She asked frantically and couldn't care less if she sounded completely panicked.

"He went out with the boys to pick up a suspect on the Rodriguez case and… well, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but there was a shootout and he got hit." She explained calmly, but Kate felt like she couldn't breathe.

_Castle had been shot._

"How bad is it?" Her voice came out in a harsh whisper, tears already pooling in her eyes.

This was _not_ happening. Not now when things were so good and they were so happy. She couldn't lose him. She _couldn't_.

"I haven't been in to see him yet, but he was shot in the shoulder. Apparently it was through and through and didn't hit anything important on the way." Lanie told her and Kate had to lean against the wall when her knees nearly gave out in relief. "He was really lucky."

"Oh, thank God." Kate breathed out, a hand covering her face for a moment as she tried to control her breathing and her erratic heart. "Where is he now?" She asked after a moment, her voice still unsteady.

"New York Presbyterian." She said and Kate took a deep breath as she started to make her way out onto the sidewalk. "I'm on my way there right now."

"Alright, I'll see you there." She unlocked her car and got in, closing the door behind her. "And Lanie? Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, honey. I'll see you soon."

* * *

The drive to New York Presbyterian Hospital felt like an eternity. She was stuck in traffic for a while and what should have been a 10-minute drive, took nearly 40-minutes and all of Kate's patience. By the time she found a parking space near the hospital, her heart was beating erratically again with anxiety and she all but ran the remaining block that separated her from Castle.

When she stepped into the hospital's reception area, she immediately spotted Ryan and made her way to him in a hurry. She had to keep a mantra in her head that he was okay, it was just a scare, but she knew she wouldn't be able to calm down until she saw him with her own eyes and held him close.

"Beckett, hey. I was worried about you. Lanie said you were on your way over half an hour ago." He greeted her and she shook her head, letting out a sigh.

"Got stuck in traffic." She told him and started following her fellow detective down the hall, towards the elevator. "What the hell happened?"

"We were picking up Rodriguez's brother for interrogation, remember?" He asked and she nodded as they entered the elevator. Ryan pushed the button for the third floor. "Well, he was waiting for us with his buddies and greeted us with bullets. It caught us by surprise, Beckett." He rubbed his face in frustration and guilt and turned to look at her. "I swear, if we had known he would turn hostile, we wouldn't have brought Castle along."

"No, don't worry about it." She touched his shoulder and offered him a small smile. "Lanie said he was hit in the shoulder?"

"Yeah, it was through and through. He'll have to wear a sling for a few weeks and take some antibiotics to prevent infection, but that's it." He explained and Kate let out a breath in relief, sagging against the wall. The elevator pinged indicating their arrival on the third floor and she pushed herself off the wall and followed Ryan down a corridor. "We tried getting in touch with Alexis too, but all we got was her voicemail. And we didn't have his mother's number."

"Yeah, Alexis is in California for the week, but I'll tell Martha." She reassured him as he pushed the door open to room 304.

The moment she laid eyes on Castle, she felt tears burning behind her eyes. Biting her lip hard for a second to keep her emotions in check, she stepped into the room and dazedly registered that Lanie and Espo were sitting on a small couch while Castle was sitting up in bed, his left arm supported by a sling. When he turned to the door and their eyes met, she didn't see anything else. Striding confidently to his bed, she stopped in front of him for a minute, knowing that her tears would fall at any moment. He smiled at her, reached out hesitantly to touch her cheek and she nearly collapsed next to him in relief.

He was okay. He was alive. Warm and breathing and touching her and it had been just a scare.

_God, she could have lost him today_, she thought as a tear made its way down her cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb, his touch lingering on her skin. No words were needed between them, just his touch was enough reassurance that he was fine and alive and that she hadn't lost him.

She didn't think when she leaned in and kissed him. Didn't think that their friends were watching their interaction closely and completely missed when Lanie gasped in surprise when their lips met. All she cared about was feeling his mouth on hers, his lips moving with hers gently, saying everything she couldn't find the words to express to him.

"You okay?" She asked quietly when they broke apart, her hand touching his stubbly cheek almost reverentially.

"Yeah." He nodded and leaned in to touch her lips with his again. "I'm fine, Kate." He whispered when another tear escaped her eyes. "I'm right here and I'll be as good as new in a few weeks." He reassured her, holding her gaze.

"You scared the hell out of me." She breathed and rested her forehead against his neck on his good side. "Don't you ever do that to me again." She whispered harshly and felt him chuckle. "I'm serious, Rick."

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry. I'll try my best not to get shot again, love. Promise." He told her and sighed, eyes closed.

"I love you." She mumbled against his skin and placed a gentle kiss to his neck.

Then they heard someone clearing their throat pointedly and both realized they were not exactly alone. Kate reluctantly pulled away from him and turned to look at their friends, feeling a blush creeping up her neck.

Lanie, Esposito and Ryan were looking at them with looks of surprise, disbelief and amusement in various degrees.

"So," Esposito started. "is there anything you two would like to share with the class?"

* * *

**A/N: This was a prompt jetpackingpenguin sent me on tumblr and I just had to do something about it. Thoughts?**


End file.
